Books read in 2025: No. 11 -- The Guns of Avalon

by Roger Zelazny

Started: March 27

Finished: April 3

Notes: I've been meaning to read more Zelazny, and a decade or more back I saw an online discussion with 2 editors from Tor publishing, and they agreed this was the best of Zelazny's Amber novels. So, I thought this a fitting place to jump back into reading this author.

Mini review: This one was pretty darn good. I felt it slowed a little in the middle, but it had a solid beginning and quite a good ending, though it did leave things open for the next Amber novel. Anyway, in this once, Corwin seeks to gain the crown of Amber, and this takes him through various worlds, including one version of our own, but just when he seems on the verge of reaching his goal, a new threat presents itself.

Beer of the Week Blast from the Past: Ruddles Pub Ale Draught

Beer score: 4.8

The company that makes this brew got bought out by another company a decade or so, and many of that original company's beers are no longer on the market, including this one.

I'm not usually a fan of these draught ales in a can, but this one wasn't too bad. It had a smooth, milky head, and it was very wet, almost to the point of being flat. There was a slight bitter hops flavor that was a little stronger in the aftertaste.

All in all, not a great beer, but not a bad one. Too bad it's no longer around.

Books read in 2025: No. 10 -- The Curse of Rathlaw

by Peter Saxon

Started: March 18

Finished: March 27

Notes: Apparently this author was a pseudonym used by several authors in the mid-20th Century, but a little Internet snooping has revealed to me to true author of this fantasy novel was Thomas Martin. Either way, I'm not familiar with the author, but I'm hoping this novel will at least be decent because I've been disappointed with a number of my fantasy reads of late. I picked this one up at a used book store because I kept finding it over and over again, almost like it was calling to me.

Mini review: At first I was disappointed because, despite the cover art and title and back copy and front copy and even the first chapter which took place with a maid and a hermit outside a Scottish castle at night, this was not an S&S novel, not even fantasy, unless maybe dark fantasy. No, this turned out to be something of a horror novel set in the modern day (at least by 1968 standards, when this book was published). But that being said, this wasn't too bad. Not great, but not awful. A hermit attempts to rape a young woman engaged to a young man, this is captured before the deed can be done. The local lord has the hermit punished, and afterward the hermit lays a curse upon the family. At first everyone scoffs, but when events start occurring related to the curse, the lord calls in the aid of a group in London called The Guardians, who deal with fighting diabolical forces. Kind of fun, dark but not too dark, so I didn't hate it.

Beer of the Week: Corona Extra

Beer score: 3.8

Company: Constellation Brands
ABU: 4.6
IBU: 18

It pours a very light yellow color, pale and almost clear. The smell is grassy with maybe a little corn.

Weak and watery with a little carbonation. There is a slight sweet taste, but not much more.

My experience has been that this is typical of many Mexican beers, but despite my general lack of excitement, this beer would probably go well with seafood or Mexican food or on a hot day when you're working outdoors in the heat.

Books read in 2025: No. 9 -- The Clocks of Iraz

by L. Sprague de Camp

Started: March 7

Finished: March 18

Notes: I've read some of de Camp's Conan books and some material he edited, but until now I've not read any of his novels of his own creation. So here goes.

Mini review: This novel disgusted me more than anything I've read in a good long while, so I am glad to be rid of it. First of all, calling this Sword & Sorcery, which the book's back cover prompted, is almost ludicrous. I suppose it is S&S, but only by quite loose terms. A master craftsman who at least has some history of soldiering finds himself hired to fix a majestic clock in a city, and then he runs afoul of local politics, facing a battle and eventually a king's abdication. There's very little magic, and most of that in the background, and other than one sword fight early on and a battle that was almost more stilly than serious, there's no real action here, at least not of the sword-swinging variety. The writing is bland at best, and most frustrating, just when things start to get a little interesting, the main character breaks out into song or lengthy stories that don't even have much to do with the plot. Yes, I'm glad to be finished with this book.

Beer of the Week: Molson Ice

Beer score: 4.5

Company: MolsonCoors
ABU: 5.6
IBU: 15

As might be expected from a mass-produced, mass-marketed brew, this one pours a pale yellow color, almost watery. There's a bit of sweet scent in the pouring, but not much.

The taste isn't real strong, though there is a bit of sweet beerness to it. There is a lot of fizz, which makes it hard to swallow.

Meh. There are worse beers.

Two more fantasy short stories available

I've been experimenting with publishing fantasy short stories exclusively to Amazon of late, always in e-book format and print and sometimes even audio.

So, here are my latest two stories.

Jungle of Blood: a heroic fantasy short story

A great foreign evil has arrived by sea near the ancestral lands of the nomadic people of the young warrior Keembu, and he and his fellow clansmen and their shaman must ultimately come face to face with this monstrosity or slowly be forced to fall beneath its terror.

Can spears and magic stand against a vampire who can control the very beasts of the jungle? Or will the blood of men cover the land?

Squad Mage: a short story of military fantasy

The squad of Corporal Jetei is tasked with breaking through the wall surrounding an enemy town, but once they are through, the real dangers begin.

A powerful sorceress has holed up within her own mansion and it is Jetei’s squad’s job to go in and eliminate this magical threat. Yet Jetei is only a squad mage, so how can she and her comrades hope to stand against a strong magical enemy within that enemy’s very home?